Self-Discipline and Persistence

Persistence is self-discipline in action. Your ability to persist in the face of all setbacks and temporary failures is essential to success in life.

Napoleon Hill said, “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” 

The primary reason for success is persistence, and, likewise, the primary reason for failure is lack of persistence, quitting too soon.

 There is a direct link between self-discipline and self-esteem. Each time you discipline yourself to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not, your self-esteem increases. This why there is direct relationship between self-esteem and persistence. Each time you persist and force yourself to continue on, even when you feel like quitting, your self-esteem goes up.



1. The Reward of Persistence

Persistence is its own reward. Every time you force yourself to persist on a task, whether it is large or small, you feel happier and better about yourself.

When you go the extra mile and do more than you are paid for or more than is expected, your self-esteem goes up. You feel more powerful and in greater control of your life. In your career, when you go the extra mile you put yourself on the side of the angels. The primary difference between winners and losers in life is simple: Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

You can increase your ability to persist by talking to yourself positively. Say these words: “I am unstoppable!” Before you begin any major undertaking, pre program yourself by telling yourself, “I never give up.”

Before you can achieve anything worthwhile in life, you have to pass “the persistence test.” This is usually a “snap quiz” sprung on you unexpectedly with no warning. You suddenly face a major setback, problem, temporary failure, or even a complete disaster. When this happens, remind yourself that this is the “testing time.” This is when you demonstrate what you are really made of. This is when you show yourself and others the strength of your character and your true determination to succeed.  

2. Be Proactive Versus Reactive

Resolve to focus on the solution and what can be done now, rather than on what happened and who’s to blame. Think in terms of the actions you can take to resolve the situation rather than what went wrong and who is to blame.

To remain optimistic, look for the good in every situation. When you look for something good, you will always find something good. Furthermore, while you’re looking for something good, because your conscious mind can hold only one thought at a time, you will automatically become positive, optimistic, and back in full control.

Seek the valuable lesson in every problem or difficulty. Every setback you face contains one or more lessons that have been sent to you to help you be more successful in the future. The difference between successes and failures is simple: Failures feel sorry for themselves when things go wrong, whereas successful people look for the valuable lesson they can learn that will help them in the future.

3. Look for the Gift

Normal Vincent Peale used to say, “When God wants to send you a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.

The bigger the gift that God wants to send you, the bigger the problem he wraps it up in.”

Instead of concentrating on the problem, look for the gift. Wonderfully enough, you will always find it. What’s more, sometimes the gift, or valuable lesson, can be of far greater value than the cost of the problem itself. Sometimes, one lesson that you learn in dealing with a problem can be the key to your long-term success. As Napoleon Hill wrote, “Within every problem or obstacle lays the seed of an equal or greater opportunity or benefit. Your job is to find it.”

Continually think of yourself as a strong, powerful, resolute person in the face of adversity. In World War I, a British general was described by his superiors: “There he stands, like an iron peg, driven into the frozen ground, immovable.”

Let this be an accurate description of you whenever you face difficulties or problems of any kind.

Resolve to stand like an iron peg driven into the frozen ground.

4. Optimism Gives You Resilience

The most important quality you need for success and persistence is optimism. This is a boundless confidence in yourself and your ability to ultimately succeed. To remain optimistic, you must control and discipline your thinking when things go wrong. Refuse to feel sorry for yourself. Remember, you are not a victim. You are an adult, and you are in charge of your own life. You are doing what you have freely chosen to do. Setbacks come with the territory. They are merely speed bumps on the road to success.

Refuse to blame others or make excuses. When you complain or blame other people, it just makes you feel and sound petty and small, and, what’s worse, it takes away your personal power. Whenever you criticize or complain, it makes you feel weaker and reduces your ability to deal effectively with the situation. Instead, greet every setback by repeating, “I am responsible.”

Look for the reasons why you are responsible for what happened rather than trying to pass off the blame onto other people. No excuses.

 From the book NO EXCUSE by Brian tracy